Newspapers / The Roanoke Beacon and … / Nov. 13, 1908, edition 1 / Page 3
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THE WANDER TRAIL. Up across the mountains, downward through the vale, Out upon the fonming seas runs the wander trail: Pack your bundle, comrade, and take your staff. m hand: We're off to seek contentment, which dwells in No Mam Land. The skies are blue above us, the roaming wind is sweet, The roads are warm and springy beneath our faring feet; Oli, leave the home-kept people to work and play and breed W e must be off, fulfilling the I'overs' easy creed. For lands we've never traveled, for seas we've never crossed. Our h darts are all a-hunger, we never count the cost; !The sun in all his glory of rising at the dawn But calls to ils to follow where he is leading on'. And when in sheen and splendor he sinks benenth the sea. He seems to send a message, "Come, comrades, follow me." The end of all our journey who knows what it may brin?? But, friend, the wander fever has wakened with the sprinir. ' . Berton Eraley, in McLlure's Magazine. 0 mTT-n-TT-1TT JLX11VWUVJXX J. iliJ O JL JXJrlL 1 OF BELLE ISLE. By JOHN K "Icebergs, eh?" Bald Captain Sar jfjent Spinney, in reply to a question jfrora a knot of school cadets huddled round the Btove in the Cape Ann Sea jman's Bethel, "Oh, yes, a good many, tall told. Mostly off in the distance, though." Seating himself astride a chair, he Btared reflectively through the bank jof crimson geranium blooms in the window out upon the shipping in the liar b or. Although I continued to hold up bcfore me a volume of Geodetic Sur rey Records, in which I had been (Studying the singular changes in the jcoast-line, I lost all interest in its "Sontents, and found my eyes wander ing cvi,ectantly to tho rugged skip per. "Cape Ann fishfrmen up in north Cm waters, " said be, "don't go in for eeenery much; it's mostly halibut. pnee in a while a duck or a seal, and sometimes a game and a dicker with the tut. Eskimos but it'3 mostly hali- "But spring before last we ran the Nancy Lee up to latitude fifty-five degrees and fifty-si:: minutes. That's about one hundred and sixty miles east by north of Cape Harrigan, and not far from the queer little settle ments of the Moravians. 'Twas as far up as we could get on account of drift ice. "The Nancy is only an eighty-ton-"er, and though she is Essex-built, and as clever and able for her tons as any craft fishing out of this port, she wag never timbered to bunt arctic ice in those fierce currents and windy fogs. It's nearly always foggy up there, and when it blows it blows. ' "The sea was full of field ice, a good deal of it full-fledged bergs higher than the burgee on our top ; -stick. Set trawls? I guess not! We didn't even, try the bottom or send down an ( br. . I "First a blow kept us busy, then a snow; wet, heavy snow, too, that stacked up all over the deck and sail, ana weighted her down so that we fyad to wear often and take it on the other quartervto keep her trim. And fog! 'Twas foggy all the time. again,' and rafeAvntll we found a hun- ""-irea jmjrity atnoms oi water, aDout one'hundrcd and twenty miles east of Belle Isle. We had fished-along here many trips before, and felt quite tidy and homelike when we hove over the dorie3 and got the gear all out and fishing. "The sun came out and shone bright in the blue, and for nearly a wopk we found good trawling. We had two-thirds of a trip in the hold, When one morning up shot big Judie. Chisholm in the Therese Prindall, and we hailed him. 'Twas on that day, Friday, that a lot of poor judgment tries to hide behind, i " 'We've got only about ten thou sand fish and thirty of fietchers in her now!' he sung out as ho flew by. fGoing to try for a better berth Bouth a bit.' " 'Better berth south, eh,' thought I, as I watched them bear off to sou' west," his dories all nested and made fast, both anchors taken on deck, and the craft setting so deep that if she had a fish in her she had a good sixty thousand pounds, i " 'Touches me Judic have a likely fcatch in her already, cap'n,' blurted Page Rowe, who sat beside me on the v.-f. house. J , i " 'A3'e,' spoke he again, 'I say he's "v 1 op the clean leap for home by the outside course this very minute. Takes a navigator to slip through the " straits.' " 'Me, too joined In Buster Plum- jner. 'The Cap Ann Halibut Com pany's wharf is like to be that berth south a bit he have in mind, I fancy. Judic's a crafty bundle. He be that.' "While we sat there watching them op staysail and up topsail running off more to westward all the time, I calculated In my mind the difference in the price of the first spring trip landed and the second, though 'twas only an hour's difference in hailing the market. No fisherman likes to be shown the way home to market. "We baited up again that day, and the next morning the dories began to come in with good fish from that night's set. But before all hands got aboard the glass began to fall, and dropped steadily until, through that golden sunshine, all hands stared into trouble of one kind or another. So jbefore noon we were headed for home by way of Belle Isle Strait, witii a fair trip tucked away. Tp glad for one,' said Toby S Snow. Toby's a black man. Negroes "T are scarcer than Irishmen aboard a fisherman, but Toby's one. Good ne gro, but poor fisherman. " 'Alabama's de place, said he, every meal-time, and talked about .balmy- days and bi.cken and hoe cakes till the crewbgan to get dainty a$d actually 8hj54uit ladylike ylih tfct coI'l-hoTisb all o on our guar mTTTTl rNrnTk A Tm 1 COTTON. them were Newfoundlanders and true 'dogs' the length of their six feet. . "But everybody felt neat that after noon when the Nancy tripped into the Strait of Belle Isle, the deck scrubbed, her skirts gathered up be hind her, and stepping off ahead of a six-knot breeze. "But ice as soon as we got into the mouth of the strait, Ice was every where, as far as we could see. Not field ice, but bergs, high toppers, too. And as we ran farther in, it looked as if all the bergs coming down from the pele had shot off into the strait for a farewell game among them selves. " 'A likoly lot, cap'n,' said Alec Peoples to me. "I stood watching them sail along beforo supper, and I realized that to put into the strait at this time of the year was the most foolish thing I had. ever done in all my life. "Outside was the Prindall, though,' wallowing for home, I felt sure, with a handy twenty-four hours' start. I gulped it down as it was; 'twas no fisherman that would put back then before hiss' crew. "Aft,er supper I went on deck to sniff the weather before snugging away for the night in the cabin. A heavy mist had settled down, and it was beginning to rain, and I could smell a true northeaster in the air. I felt a little chary as I watched her shy and duck in and out amongst those mountains of ice. The strait seemed full of them, and they loomed up in the deep dark so sudden and often, white and ghostlike, that 'twas scaresome to stand there and watch them sail along in that tide. "I went below, and stretching out on the port locker before my bunk, with my boots and watch-coat on, watched the hands at their games and listened to their bandying. "I could hear the lookout for'ard every once in a while sing out steer ing orders to the man aft at the wheel, and feeling the Nancy running smooth, I dozed, in spite of my de termination to keep awake. " 'Yes, sir, Toby I faintly heard Buster Plummer say, 'when we chucks that rat overboard a big gull swoops down and grabs him, and you may not believe me, sir, but what does that rat do but turn round and grabs that gull, and setting one wing up for a mainsail and tother for a jib, he beats into port ahead of the ship, and when we got up to our dock he wa3 there waiting for us.' "But I must have slept in spite of myself, for seemingly right on top of Buster's yarn I heard thundered on deck: " 'Up with her! Let her come up quick,' man, I say!' And though I could swear I had not been asleep, I landed all standing as I felt the craft careen to port before a short helm. "I shot a glance around the cabin, and was dumfounded to find the card board deserted and the light turned down low. I looked at the clock be fore me and read half past two, and as I make toward the companionway I noticed all the aft hands sound asleep in their bunks. "I felt her strike easy as I stumbled on deck, and then shivering and quiv ering she rose, as on a sea, but in that second I felt 'twas no sea she was riding. In fact, she didn't ride at all; up she went and stayed there. " 'Long Jack at the wheel,' thought I, as I pushed by him. Surely Peter Hanscom and his dory-mate took the deck as I lay down. I must have slept. "I stumbled round the house, and clutching the starboard rail, seemed to be staring into a great white wall that ran straight up higher than I could see. It was ice. I could almost reach out and touch it with my hand. " 'All hands now!' I heard the man at the wheel roar with all his might, and before I could collect my wits from the surprise, every man of that crew stood round me. "Not a word broke the deep silence that held there. We could see the le (eq istales An English paper is said to have given what are called the ten mistakes of life," as follows: 1. To set up our own standard of what is right ana and judge people accordingly. To measure the enjoyment of others by our own. To expect uniformity of opinion in this world. To look for Judgment and experience in youth. To endeavor to mold all dispositions alike. To look for perfection in our own actions. To worry ourselves and others with what cannot he wrong 4. B. 6. 7. it remedied. ' 8. To refuse to yield in immaterial matters. 9. To refuse to alleviate, so far as lies in our power, all that which needs alleviation. 10. To refuse to make allowance for the infirmities of others. . 4 4 green glare of our starboard running light reflected against the glistening wall, and could feel the cold air from the sides. , " 'Cap'n, we're high and dry on an iceberg!' came a trembling voice from for'ard, and for the, first time I was able to fathom our true situation. "I -had been up on the rocks, hove down on Georges, and with a coaster poked clean into our windlass, but high and dry on an iceberg I never was before In all my life. "We needed no torches to see how we lay. Dark a3jt was all round us, every inch of that ice shone out as plain as day. Up on the starboard side like a great crystal cliff towered that mountain, awful to look at, its great top pinnacles leaning out into the air, seemingly ready to drop down on us at any minute. ' "At its foot spread out a shelf, its breadth so great that we couldn't see or form any idea of its size, run ning from below the water at its edge up a steep grade to the base of the berg, allowing us, under our head way, to slide fair upon it, high and dry, for more than our length, and as truly flush with tbe face of that berg as could well be. And there we stood. "Tho wind screeched round us and the rain shot down in slanted sheets, but the swinging of the berg had brought us fair in its lee. The little Nancy stood there, stark still and straight as an arrow, her sails limp and empty, as if she wa3 like all hands, dumfounded. "I ran round to the port side, then for'ard, and as far off as I could see in any direction lay a great white fiat of ice. I ran aft again, and looking off astern, could see that the only way oi? was the way we came on. And'while I stood, there was a thun derous report beside us, followed by a long, tremulous vibration, as though the whole earth was in nheaval round us, and with a shrieking )rcar, ton upon ton of ice crashed down on our deck for'ard. "Timbers crunched and crackled beneath it, and. the little schooner shook and trembled until I felt as if my own life was being crushed out with her. The crew broke in con fusion for the first time and made aft from where they stood amidships, but not a man spoke. "I felt the wind beginning to squeeze round behind us again, and the whole mountain of ice seemed to be revolving as on a pivot by the force of the wind and tide. " ' 'Tis the way of these blasted bergs to turn turtle at times, cap'n!' some one said; and as he spoke, a blast of wind struck our mainsail, and over the Nancy went on her beams, sending us headlong down.agaiAst the wheel cover in a bunch. "A deafening series of snapping reports traveled from beneath us. Everything solid round us seemed to shake and tremble for a second; then down she went, straight down through that honeycombed ice, until it seemed as though wo were going under altogether. The tons of the schooner's weight in capsizing had smashed through the Ice that held her! "Ice and sea rolled over the rail as we went down into it, and there we lay on our beam-ends, and spars and sail stretched flat out upon the ice. I could not move. I hung on to the wheel, my eyes and teeth shut tight as a vise. "Then I felt her beginning to right as the broken cakes of the ice parted round her, and rising slow but sure, and coming up to her bilge, with a lurch she stood up straight again, and I could feel that we lay in good brine once more. "The big main-boom swung out with a bang; the mainsail filled, and starting off before the wind, she bid up with a glancing blow against the edge of ice in that little bay broken round her. Then turning a half-circle along its edge, she shot' up dead into the wind, out into clear water, and off to 'starboard of her own will, straight away from that monster. " ' 'Twas more than our own hands did that!' I heard old Barnacle Gran nett say, as those thirteen men, one after another, let go their holds and breathed deep again as she gathered way. "We found our rudder hanging loose and wrenched from the steering-gear. Tons of ice lay piled for ward on our deck, the flying jib-boom was gone altogether, the martingale was forced into the stem, opening the seams in the peak; her bulwarks and stanchions were cleaved off flush with the deck on the starboard bow and aft to amidships, and the fore chain-plate was bent and twisted like tin. 1 glanced at the clock again as I ran below for an ax. But twenty minutes had gone from the time we struck, yet in those twenty minutes I seemed to have lived longer than in all my twenty odd years at sea. "Daylight opened at last, and found us running wild, with the rudder A SrV M rigged in a 'berther, and water mak ing fast; through the peak into th hold. The compass had shaken out of the glmbal and was useless, but we felt round, in all directions for soundings until we caught the ringing of a bell-buoy up to windward, and we knew we had Point Rich and a landing at hand, and we made it, fast and hard. "But we got the market first for all of that. After all Nancy's frolic, and the scrape she led us into, we were only steering clear of worse things cn the outside course. We were the laet men to see the Prindall afloat. And except a few timbers and one man, we landed home with our trip, and as fit as when we started. "That man was Toby Snow, our colored cook. 'Cap'n,' said he from the shore where we beached her that morning at Point Rich, deep to the scuppers with water in the hold and all hands tuckered out with the pumps, 'give my share to some needy family if you ever gets home again. Fishin' is likely all right 'nough, but I is dat sure I ain't cut out for no fisherman dat I prefer to go home along de shore.' And he did. "Many's the Infidel has sailed out of Gloucester harbor and come back a God-fearing man. There were two on that trip Dan Neal over there drinkiug coffee with the chaplain was one of them." Youth's Companion. m A curious insect has arrived from Brazil at the South Kensington Mu seum in London. It is a beetle. At its head gleams a red ruby lamp, and eleven green lights glow "forth from each side of the little creature. These peculiarities have earned it the name of the "railway beetle." Dr. J..W. Moore, of Waynesboro, Pa., began experimenting last year with a new method of his own devis ing of keeping apples for. a year. He put away some York Imperials after this new system, and is now exhibit ing them to lils friends. They are firm and solid and have an unim paired taste. He will make a further experiment this year, and if the re sults are such as he hopes he will give his method to the public. It has been calculated that the J amount of light received from the sun is about 600,000 times that of the moon. The intrinsic brightness of the sun's disc is about 90,000 times that of a candle flame, 150 times that of the limelight and more than four times brighter than the brightest spot in the crater of an elec tric arc light. The darkest spot on the sun is much brighter than the limelight. From calculations made by. Profes sor H. C. Wilson, which are quoted in Nature, there seems reason to sup pose tbat the conditions under which Halley's comet will return to us in 1910 will be much the same as those under which it appeared in 1066. It was then one of the grandest objects which ever appeared in the heavens, and made a tremendous impression upon the mediaeval world. In the summer, when so many thousands drink from tempting springs in the woods and on hillsides, a warning recently given by Mons. E. A. Martel, the celebrated French ex plorer of caverns, should not go un noticed. Contrary to a widely preva lent opinion, Mons. Martel says that springs of apparently pure water are, in many cases, merely the outflow of surface waters which have disap peared through fissures, carrying with them pollution from the soil, and not purified in their passage through the rocks. He thinks that even chalk is not an effectual filter for surface water passing through it. Was One of the Noble 600. In attendance at court here is Will iam Whiting, of Cherrytree township, who was one of the 600 who made the charge at Balaklava, in the Cri mean War, famed in Tennyson's "Charge of the Light Brigade." Mr. Whiting is seventy years old, but is straight as an arrow, and his mind is exceptionally clear. "I was sixteen years old at the time," he told a reporter, "having been born in 1838. It was a bloody encounter. Of the 600 engaged only 1S1 were able to report afterward, and many of them were Injured. My only wound was a sabre cut on the left wrist, and I bear the scar. I often think of rny comrades who fell." Philadelphia Record. A Time-Saving Device. Every employe of the Bank of Eng land is required to sign his name in a book on his arrival in the morning, and, if late, must give the reason therefor. The chief cause of tardiness is usually fog, and the first man to arrive writes "fog" opposite his name, and those who follow write "ditto." The other day, however, the first late man gave as the reason, "wife had twins," and twenty other late men mechanically eigned "ditto" under, neath. Success Magazine. Killing Flics. Much has been said and writt,. about getting rid of flies. I came across this the other day in an al manac printed at Eilzabethtown in 1826: "How to Destroy Flies A Frenchman who sells powder for kill ing flies gives the following recipe; Catch ib fly and tickle heem under ze throat, and when he opens his mouth to laugh throw in be powdaire and it will efcokt httta." New York Press. S.S. For .the Xounger Children.. THE BABY BANTAMS. My little banly Mary lias tiny babies eight; Their papn's naire s Jerry He stands ir.bide the gaio. My little banty Mary Is careful with her chicks: She takes them in the garden. And scratches there and picks. But when a hawk comes flying Above the garden lot, The ban ties hardly know then If they are safe or not. They never, never tarry, When bantv Mary calls, But. fluffy, white and downy, They fiy like cotton bails. And so my baby banties Have never come to grief, For Mary hides them safely Beneath a cabbage leaf. And in the evening, after The banty chicks are fed, They all are tucked up snugly In Mary's feather-bed. -E. M. R., in the Philadelphia Record. THE LITTLE SNOY MAIDEN. It was snowing last and Laura was very disconsolate. She did not seem to care about the luxury that surrounded her. Laura's mother came into the room then and told her to get ready for a drive. "I am going shopping" she said, "and I want you to come with me. But what i3 the matter with you? Are you sick?" "Oh, no," said Laura, "only I don't feel happy at all." "Well, what do you want?" said her mother, for she would do every thing to please Lr.ura. But just at that minute Laura did not hear what her mother said, for she was intent watching a little girl who seemed to bo very poor. Her clothes were ragged and her yellow hair fell prettily ever her shoulders, but her little hands were blue with the cold. "Oh, mamma, do look at that poor little girl," cried Laura, who had for gotten all about the drive. "Can't I let her come in, because she i3 very cold," and she ran to the door, not waiting for her mother's consent. '"Wait for a little while, Laura, un til I find out where she came from," her mother, going after Laura. "You stay up-stairs." Laura's mother went down-stairs and Laura heard her talking with the child, who was sobbing. Soon Lau ra's mother brought the child up stairs. She told the maid to give her a good dinner and put her in a warm bed. The next morning the child Laura found out did not have any relatives living. Her parents had been buried by an old man who knew them. One morning while Laura and her parents were eating their breakfast Laura said she wished she could have the little girl for a sister. Laura's mother smiled, and Laura, taking it for a good sign, began to coax until her parents had given in. When the little girl heard about it she was delighted. Laura's parents were greatly pleased with the little girl (whom they called Virginia) for she was very happy in her new home. Lillian E. Hayes, in the Brooklyn Eagle. LITTLE HOUSE HUNTERS. There had been one long game of "pussy wants a corner" in the squir rel park more properly called Court Square of the city of Memphis, Tenn. But there was no fun in ihe game. It had come about that there weren't tree boxes to hold the rap idly growing colony, and many un fortunate bushy tails were literally obliged to "hide out" of a night. At last one big brown squirrel ami, his cunning little Mrs. Squirrel grew desperate; they started on an explor ing expedition of their own. All the business blocks and hotels surround ing the park were carefully isited by these wise home seekers. All of a sudden they happened upon a ver- J itable palace! It was a barber's electric sign box with a crack in it just big enough for Mr. Squirrel to squeeze through. Be tween the pane3 of glass was a spa cious apartment to which they quick ly transferred all their bits or rag and paper. Of course the lights made it a little warm summer nights, but in winter's it equals the. finest steam-heated plant in the city. The lights kept tkjni awake at first, but soon they were quite accustomed to that. At any rate they are still there, and may fre quently be seen scampering along the stone trimming of the building, which lead3 like a fine pavement to their brilliantly lighted residence. Phila delphia Record. WHAT TINY DID. The author of "A Hermit's Wild Flowers" relates how a little red Equirrel, which he called "Tiny," suc ceeded in gettirg at some seeds that were hidden from him in different places. "I stretched a cord between two trees, and half-way suspended a box open at the top and full of tempting seeds. Tiny saw the bird3 eating from the box, and made up his mind that he must have a share in the treat. He soon found a slender limb that would bend under his weight and let him into the box. After he had used this highway several days I cut the limb away. When Tiny found a fresh Etub instead of a limb he understood what it meant, and chattered away angrily. "His next move was to Investigate the Una where it ifas atUhed to the trees. When ho found it he thought ho could, reach .the box over the line, and started out. When about a foot from the box the line turned and Tiny jumped to the ground. He tried this three times and met wth failure. The fourth time when tho line .turned, he clung to it and made his way to tho box hand over hand. I thought ho deserved a reward for hi3 continued effort and intelligence, so, since then, I allow him to eat from the box when ever he feels like it." SNOWBALL AFIRE. Here is a pretty trick which should be very effective at a winter's evening party. The magician presiding or ders a pan full of snow to be brought in from outside. When this is done he places the pan before him on the table in plain view of the company and rolls up his sleeves to the elbow; after the manner of all magicians. The magician now rolls the mass into a nice, big snowball. Then he asks for a taper (your true magician never uses a match) and turn3 the empty pan bottom upward, placing the snowball on it. He stands a yard or so from the pan, and, stretching forth his arm, applies the lighted ta per to the top of the snowball. Thero is a flash of firo which becomes a steady flame, and there is the snow ball afire, much to the mj'stification of the puzzled onlookers. " The secret of the trick is very sim ple. The person who fetches you the pan of snow must be a confederate, who contrives to slip a piece of cam phor into tho pan. Yon search through the snow with your fingers for the lump of camphor as you roll the snowball. The camphor being white looks from the audience's point of view like a lump of snow, and the sharpest eye will not detect you as you slip it into the top of the snow ball. It should be about the size and shape of a chestnut and be pushed into the snow with the little end up, Good Literature. A TOY FLYING MACHINE. The latest mechanical toy is, ap propriately enough, a flying machine. The toy flj'ing machine has for a body a slender little metallic cylin der about six inches long and pointed at boln ends, something in the order of a torpedo boat. Attached to the under side of this cylinder are two little frames, in each of which stands a tiny figure of a man. In the after frame is carried also within a little case a coiled spring which runs a two-bladed propeller. This flying machine is not designed for independent flight, but to be sus pended by a cord. When you have it thit3 suspended and have wound up the spring you give the machine a swing out and around in a circle, and it keeps flying so long as the power holds. These toy flying machines don't cost quite as much as one of Count Zeppelin's airships in fact, you can buy one of them for forty cents. 4 New York Sun. READY FOR THE DOLLAR. Majorie, aged nine, had not been having very satisfactory reports from her school. Her father finally said, "Marjorie, for the first hundred you get I'll give you a dollar." Time went on and the reward could not ba claimed. One day the child was taken. violently ill. Her mother sent for the doctor. When he had gone Mar jorie said: "Mamma, am I very ill?" " "No, dear; your temperature is a little over a hundred, but the doctor thinks you will be all right in a day or so." Smiles broke through Marjorie'a tears. "Now, mamma, I can have my dol lar. Papa said he would give it to me if I could get a hundred in any thing." Dallas News. WTIAT MAKES A BOY POPULAR. What makes a boy popular? Sure ly it is manliness, says a man who knows. During the war how many, schools and colleges followed popu lar boys? These young leaders were the manly boys whose hearts could be trusted. The boy who respects hia mother has leadership in him. The boy who is careful of his fister is a knight. The boy who will never vio late his word, and who will pledge his honor to his own hurt and change not, will have the confidence of his friends. The boy who will never hurt the feelings of anyone will one day find himself possessing all sympathy. If you want to be a popular boy, be too manly and generous and unselfish to seek to be popular. WHAT THE BIRDS DO FOR US. A French naturalist tells is that if all the birds were suddenly to be wiped off the earth, people could not live here after nine years had passed away. The bugs and slugs which, the bird3 now keep from becoming toe plentiful would eat up all the crops and mankind would soon be without food. So you see what a very bad thing It is for little boys to shoot the useful birds with air guns and sling shots, or for little girls to covet the feathers or wing3 or bodies of tha pretty flying creatures for their hats. A co-operative purchasing agency 13 being organized In this country for supplying American and English mis sionaries with certain necessary supplies. ao for jou. b3iwv I V 11 i
The Roanoke Beacon and Washington County News (Plymouth, N.C.)
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Nov. 13, 1908, edition 1
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